Description: Raised silver two-handled lobate bowl; deep, bowl-shaped body, with sides curved out from an applied, molded footring with a stamped "x" band and an applied six lobed, scalloped base, and back to an inward sloping rim; sides divided into six panels by deep, chased vertical "U"-shaped lines, lines are punched inward at the top to give a lobed affect to the lip; in each panel an escutcheon-shape is formed by deep chased lines, with scrolls below; within each escutcheon are repoussé chased flowers, alternating tulips and pinks with lightly engraved scrolls at each side; center of the bowl has a repoussé chased floral motif surrounded by six trefoils; two cast, c-scroll, caryatid handles applied at the lip and the mid body, forked at the lower terminal, beaded down the sides; engraved, "P/ C * M" in block letters in the lower center of one lobe; engraved in the opposite lobe, "E. D. P." in the lower center; engraved center of bowl, "H. C. de Peyster" in script; maker's mark on the lip.

The brandywine bowl, a decorative vessel favored by elite families of Dutch descent, embodies the perpetuation of Dutch tradition in New York. Brandywine bowls are traditionally associated with the Dutch ritual of the kindermaal, a celebratory feast held in honor of a mother and her newborn child. This bowl is engraved with three sets of initials, which trace the bowl's ownership through six generations of the De Peyster family. The earliest set indicates that the bowl was made to celebrate the birth of one of the children of New York City merchant Cornelis De Peyster and his wife, Maria Bancker, who married in 1694.

Provenance:

Cornelis De Peyster (1673-1749) and his wife Maria Bancker (1675-1710); possibly descended to his nephew, Abraham De Peyster, Jr. (1696-1767), who married Margaretta Van Cortlandt (1694-1769); to their son James A. De Peyster (1726-1799), who married Sarah Reade (1724-1802); to their son Colonel Abraham De Peyster (1753-1799), who married Catherine Augusta Livingston (1759-1839); to their daughter Harriot Charlton De Peyster (1788-after 1870); to her niece Catherine Augusta De Peyster (1835-1911), the donor.